Child art needs taste test: minister

THE State Government has escalated efforts to tighten the
National Classification Scheme after several child art
controversies and amid growing concerns about artistic freedom and
access to funding.

The Community Services Minister, Kevin Greene, argued strongly
yesterday at a Community Services and Disabilities Ministerial
Council meeting in Canberra for greater restrictions on the
depiction of child nudity.

Mr Greene encouraged other ministers to take up the issue, a
spokesman from his office said.

"No one wants the Government to be the arbiter of artistic
merit, but where there is a concern that an image of a child has
been obtained inappropriately, or is displayed or publicised
inappropriately, then some parts of the community want to see
measures put in place that protect children," he said.

His concerns echo those of the NSW Attorney-General, John
Hatzistergos, who said on Friday he would be asking the relevant
ministers to review the National Classification Scheme.

Last week the classification board approved the July edition of
Art Monthly magazine, which featured a naked image Olympia
Nelson, then aged six, on the cover, taken by her mother Pollixeni
Papapetrou, just as it had also approved images of naked
adolescents by Bill Henson a month earlier.

The Australian Christian Lobby welcomed the Government's actions
to protect children. Its national chief of staff, Lyle Shelton,
said the organisation had written to the Prime Minister this month
requesting support for such changes.

The Federal Arts Minister, Peter Garrett, has also requested
that the Australia Council and Screen Australia develop protocols
governing the depiction of children in works that receive
government funding.

But the executive director of the National Association for the
Visual Arts, Tamara Winikoff, expressed concern the changes were
not being sought in a climate of good judgment.

"The reaction has been excessive and ill-considered because
there's already a huge amount of protection in place," she
said.